Student blog about Concert Choir trip to Italy

Concert Choir member Grant Swanson ’11 kept a blog detailing the places the choir visited and his experiences along the way during the choir’s singing tour to Italy, March 16-24. To read his entire blog visit nccitaly.blogspot.com. In the coming days, Christine Ross ’11 will add her photographs, so be sure to check it out.

Here are a few clips from Grant’s blog.

March 19, Rome, performance at St. Peter’s Basilica at Vatican City (photo):“… We sat in the actual choir area in the front of the Basilica. To actually be sitting in the choir area was incredibly surreal. So much history all around us, so many choirs before us, and here we were, North Central College students, sitting in the choir area for an actual mass in St. Peter's Basilica. Incredible. The mass was one of my favorite life-experiences. It was an hour-long mass spoken in Latin, with our choir singing five songs at different points. Most of all, they loved us. We were only supposed to sing 4 songs, but they liked us so much that they had us sing another. It was delightful. To hear our voices resonating through the largest Church in all of Catholic Christendom was incredibly moving for me, especially as a person of faith. I wouldn't give up this experience for the world.”

March 24, Venice, performance at St. Mark’s Basilica: “… We sang during a mass, just like St. Peter’s. The service was much smaller and seemed to consist of a more devoted congregation. There were so many emotions with this concert: singing in St. Mark’s surrounded by so much history and architectural beauty, our final concert, my last tour concert as a senior, and the last concert with this specific choir. It was an incredible experience and I will remember it forever. I think we were all touched in a unique way as individuals and as a choir. It was wonderful.”